1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to switching regulators.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A switching regulator can generate a regulated voltage. For example, the switching regulator can include one or more switches that are turned on and off. The duty cycle of the switches can be controlled to control the regulated voltage. Examples of switching regulators include, for example, buck converters and boost converters.
A switching regulator can have a maximum power specification and/or a maximum current specification. A switching regulator should protect itself from delivering too much power or current, which can cause permanent damage to the switching regular. In addition, current regulation can be used to regulate the current being provided to a load device, such as a light emitting diode. As maximum current specifications increase, larger devices are being used in the switching regulator to provide higher currents, sense the higher currents, and limit the higher currents from exceeding the maximum current specification. Moreover, the accuracy of sensing a maximum current can be more significant because more accurate current sensing can lead to a reduction in the size of devices in the switching regulator. The higher maximum currents can also lead to greater power dissipation by the switching regulator.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved switching regulators.